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A. EPPLER AND W. V. NEAL.

SHOE TURNING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 13. I919,

1,307,81 1 Patented June 2 1919.

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ANDREW ECPPLER, OF LYNN, AND WALTER v. NEAL, or BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS,

AssIGNoEs-To UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION,OF IPATEBSON, NEW

JERSEY, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

. SHOE-TURNING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern." b

Be it known that we, ANDREW EPPLER and WALTER V. NEAL, citizens of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Boston, county of Suffolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Turning Machines; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

The present invention relatesto shoe turns ing machines and more particularly to machines of this character employed for turning the forepart of a shoe.

Inasmuch as turnshoes vary. materially both in size, shape and the character and strength of the upper, it is desirable that the turning operation shall be controlled manually in order to avoid tearing of the upper or otherwise damaging the shoe. The hand turnin operations, whether practised with or without a machine, become exceedingly burdensome, however, if any considerable number of shoes have to be turned especially when turning the heavier grades. c It isfthe object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a shoe turning machine having a simple and compact construction and which permits the turning of the shoe by the operator to be performed with the minimum of effort and liability of damage to the shoe. c

WVith this object in view the several featurcs of the invention consist in certain novel features of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to thoseyskilled in the art from the following description. c In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of the invention, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a machine embodying the several features of the invention Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the machine shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3- is a detail showing the constructionofthe forepart spreader. a y 1 In shoe turning machines it is customary to bend the soleover a turning post and to then perform the turning operationbya relative movement of theshoeandturning Specification of Letters Patent Patented June 24, 1919. Ap pficatio'n filed April 13, 1918, Serial No. 228,336. i

post the turning of the upper progressin r froni the ball toward the toe of the shoe? The present machine is provided with a turning post over which the shoe sole isbent, and cooperatingmembers located upon opposite sides of the turning post toengage,

respectively, with the heel and toe portions of theshoe. The relative movement of the shoeand turning post is accomplishedby drawing theheel portion of the shoe downwardly away from the end of the turning post while the toe portion of the shoe is held speed of the heel end ofthe shoe, thus maintaining thebendin the sole without strain in thesolennduly. The downwardor re cec mg movement of .theheelclamp is imparted by a manually operated treadle so designed thatit may be conveniently actuated by the foot of the operator. This constru ction enables the turnin of the forep art to be accomplished with a minimum ofelfort but atthe same time permits the operator to observe and feel the turning of the 11 per whichmay beimmediately stopped i too great a strain is placed thereon.

In the illustrated embodiment of the in vention the frame is providediwith an upright arm 11 which carriesayokeIZ at the upper end. This yoke isprovided with a shank 13 secured in the arm 11 by a clamp screwl l. A forepart spreading member is supported by the yoke in a position tolconveniently enter the forepart ofa shoe and comprisesa pair of oppositely disposed curved fingers 15 shaped to conform approximately to the interior of the forepart and adjustably secured at theirupperl ends to a swinginghead indicated at 17. The

head, as shown clearly in Fig. 3 0f the drawings, comprises a pair of levers 16 which are pivoted upon a hub 65, at 66. The

levers 16,.as shown. The opposite ends of thelevers are convenientlyspread apart to decrease the eifective width ofthe forepart spreader by an adjusting member 7 0 thread- 3 edin one of the levers and engaging with the cooperating lever. An additional adjustmentiofthe spreading fingers independ- 1 entlyjof one another is secured by providing a transverse slot 18 in each finger which receives a clamping screw 19 threaded in the end of the respective lever. Thisconstruction permits the simultaneous in and out adjustment of both. fingers or an independent adjustment of the two fingers as desired. The forepart spreader has provision for a bodily verticaladjustment and to this end the. llllbi65. is adjustably. secured to a stud 20 mounted in therear end of a U-shaped member 21 the clamping screw 22 threaded in thehub serving to retain the spreader in any adjusted position. The opposite arms of theU-shaped member 21 are provided with tru-nnions pivoted in the opposite arms OfithgyOkB 12., This permits the forepart spreading member to swing outwardly from p the position shown in full lines to that shown indotted lines in Fig. 1, a stop member 23 serving to limit the outward movement of the spreader, as shown. This stop member is secured to the under side of one arm of the yoke 12-and-isadapted to engage with thecorresponding arm of the, U shaped member;-21; when the latter swings down under the action of gravity. This tendency on the partof-theforepart spreader to move outwardly will be readily-apparent when it is observedthat the head 17 is located at one side; of the trunnions 24. The spreader in its inclined position is conveniently; located to receive a shoeupper. Afterthe spreader has been inserted within the shoe upper it is. swung into avertical position sothat the shoe sole-maybe bent overa vertical turning post 25. When-the forepart spreader is in this position the .toe of the shoe is engaged by! a 1 stationary] member 27 ;.adj ustably secured at itslowerend in a boss 28 forming a part'ofnthe machine. frame. Theheel end of the shoe which has been previously turned envelops one member 29' offa heel clamp which projects laterallyand is provided with an under face 30 adaptedto engage with the back of'thebount'eri This member29 of-the heel clamp is formed M13011; the upper end-of a vertical, slide, 32-movable in, ways formed in the machine frame and having a cooperating clamping. member 34 pivoted thereon at .35. The cooperating members of the heel clam-p areconnected with the treadle in such a. manner that upon an initial actuar tioni ofxthetreadle the-two clampsvare moved togethento engageythe heel seat of the shoe between; them and 'upon a continued actuation .of "the treadlierthe,v clamps are moved away from. the/end of the turning post. carryingthe heel aendofthe shoe with them. To. 1, this endtherclamping member 34 is formed as one-arm of a bell crank lever pivoted at and having: its second arm 37 connected to a swinging arm 39 through a link 40. The arm 39 is pivoted upon the frame of the machine at 42 and isconnected-to a treadle 43 by a link 44. With this construction when the treadlc is initially depressed the bell crank carrying the clan'iping member 34 is rocked-about the pivot 35 to cause the two clamping members 29 and 34 to engage the heel seat of the shoe between them. Thereafter the continued movement of the treadle depresses the slide 32 causing a bodily downward movement of the two clamps together with the heel end of the shoe. At the completion of the turning operation the clamp is returned to its initial position by a spring 45 connecting the outer end of the treadle with a boss 46 projecting from the machine frame.

The turning post is moved in the same direction as the heel clamp as the turning operation progresses and to this end is conveniently actuated from the slide 32 carryingqthe heel clamps. As will be obvious from an inspection of Fig. 1 the turning post 25 is formed upon a vertical slide 50 received inthe machine frame and adapted to move parallel to the direction ofmovement of the slide 32. The slide 32 carrying the heel clamps is provided with a rack 52 which meshes with a small pinion 53 journaled in stationary bearings in the machine frame. This pin1on meshes with a larger intermediate gear 55 which carries a smaller driving, gear 56 upon the same shaft. The gear 56 meshes with a rack 58 formed upon the turning post slide 50 and serves to move, the turning post slide in the same direction as the slide 32 but at a slower rate of speed. In the drawings the plate covering the slides anddriving gears has been removed to enable the construction to be more readily observed.

It will be clearly evident that with this machine the operation of turningthe forepart of a shoe upper is greatly facilitated without detracting from the intimate control, of the turning operation by the operator. It will be further obvious that by making the proper Y adjustments of the forepart spreaderand the cooperating toe member the toeof-th'e shoe may be firmly held in a stationary position during the movements of the turning post and heel clamp relative thereto. As will be observedfrom an inspection of Fig. 2 of the drawings the turning post is comparatively narrow in. width and is-adapted tobreak the sole-both lon itudinally and transversely, a. small roll (30 journaled in the top of the post tending to eliminate the. friction. of the sole in passing over the post during the turninggoperation.

While-it lSPI8fGITGd to employ the. specific, construction. and arrangement of parts shown and described, it will beunderstood that this. construction andarrangement is not essential except so far as specified in the claims, and may be changed or modified without departing from the broader features of the invention.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is: y

1. A shoe turning machine having, in combination, a turning post, means for holding the forepart of a shoe at one side of the post, a pair of heel clamping members at the opposite side of the post, a treadle, and connections for first closing the clamping members upon the shoe and for thereafter moving both clamping members and the turning post to turn the shoe over the post during a continued movement of the treadle in one direction.

2. A shoe turning machine having, in combination, a turning post, means for holding the toe of a shoe stationary at one side of the post, means for engaging with the heel of the shoe upon the opposite side of the post, and manually actuated mechanism for moving the heel engaging member and. turning post in the same direction and at different speeds to turn the shoe over the post.

3. A shoe turning machine having, in combination, a turning post, means for bold ing the toe end of a shoe stationary at one side of the post, means for drawing the heel end of the shoe downwardly, and connected mechanism for simultaneously moving the turning post in the same direction at a slower rate of speed.

4:. A shoe turning machine having, in combination, a forepart spreader member, means cooperating therewith to retain a shoe in position upon the spreader, a turning post about which the sole of the shoe is bent, and means for drawing the heel end of the shoe away from the turning post to turn the shoe about the post while the toe end of the shoe.

is held stationary.

5. A shoe turning machine having, in combination, a forepart spreader, means for normally retaining the spreader in an inclined position for the convenient reception of a shoe, a vertical turning post, a heel clamp, and manually actuated means for drawing the heel clamp away from the end of the turning post to turn the shoe over the post.

6. A shoe turning machine having, in combination, a turning post, a vertically movable slide carrying the turning post, a stationary toe engaging member located at one side of the turning post, a heel engaging member located upon the opposite side of the turning post, a vertically movable slide carrying the heel member and nanually actuated mechanism for moving the two slides in the same direction.

7. A shoe turning machine having, in combination, a turning post, means for holding the toe end of a shoe at one side of the post, a pair of heel clamping members located upon the opposite side of the post, a manually actuated treadle member, and connections between the treadle member and heel clamping members for first closing the clamping members upon the shoe and for thereafter moving both clamping members away from the end of the turning post during a continued movement of the treadle member in the same direction.

8. A shoe turning machine having, in combination, a pair of slides moving in parallel paths, a turning post mounted upon one slide, a heel engaging member mounted upon the second slide at one side of the turning post, a stationary toe engaging member located at the opposite side of the turning post, mechanism for actuating the heel clamp slide, and connections between the two slides for simultaneously actuating the turning post in the same direction and at a slower speed.

9. A shoe turning machine comprising a pair of fingers adapted to be received within the :lorepart of a. shoe, a pivoted lever supporting each finger, and means for simultaneously rocking the two levers about the pivotal connections to vary the efiective width of the forepart spreader.

10. A shoe turning machine comprising a head, a plurality of spreader fingers supported upon the head, and a swinging frame fulcrumed above and at one side of the head so that the head normally maintains the spreader fingers in an inclined position for the convenient reception of a shoe.

11. A shoe turning machine comprising a pair of spreader fingers, means for simultaneously adjusting thefingers toward and from one another, and separate means for independently adjusting the fingers toward and from one another.

12. A shoe turning machine comprising a pair of fingers, means for simultaneously adjusting the fingers toward and from one another, separate means for independently adjusting the fingers toward and from one another, and means for securing a bodily lengthwise adjustment of the fingers.

ANDREW EPPLER. WALTER V. NEAL.

Copies 01! this pateiit may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

